Mike & Molly is an American sitcom created by Mark Roberts which aired on CBS from September 20, 2010 to May 16, 2016, for a total of six seasons and 127 episodes. The series stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as the eponymous Mike and Molly, a couple who meet in a Chicago Overeaters Anonymous group and fall in love.
On January 12, 2016, CBS cancelled Mike & Molly after six seasons. The series finale aired on May 16, 2016.
Plot[]
Mike a Chicago police officer, meets fourth-grade teacher Molly one day when he speaks at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and they fall in love, thanks in part to their mutual love of pie and the desire to resist it. Both face challenges in their quest to lose weight -- Molly from her slender sister and mother and Mike at the diner where he frequently eats. But having found each other, they will support each other as they try to achieve their goals, be it weight loss or Molly's decision to quit teaching and pursue her dream as a writer.
Cast and Characters[]
- Billy Gardell as Michael Biggs
- Melissa McCarthy as Molly Flynn
- Katy Mixon as Victoria Flynn
- Swoosie Kurtz as Joyce Flynn
- Reno Wilson as Carl McMillan
- Nyambi Nyambi as Samuel
- Louis Mustillo as Vincent "Vince" Moranto
- Rondi Reed as Margaret "Peggy" Biggs
- Cleo King as Rosetta McMillan (Regular, seasons 1–3; recurring, seasons 4–5; guest, season 6)
- David Anthony Higgins as Harry (Regular, Season 3-5; recurring Season 2; guest, Season 1 and 6)
Episodes[]
- Main article: Episode Guide
| Season | Episodes | Originally Aired (U.S. dates) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Premiere | Season Finale | |||
| 1 | 24 | September 20, 2010 | May 16, 2011 | |
| 2 | 23 | September 26, 2011 | May 14, 2012 | |
| 3 | 23 | September 24, 2012 | May 30, 2013 | |
| 4 | 22 | November 4, 2013 | May 19, 2014 | |
| 5 | 22 | December 8, 2014 | May 18, 2015 | |
| 6 | 13 | January 6, 2016 | May 16, 2016 | |
Production[]
In December 2009, CBS placed a pilot order for Mike & Molly. Mark Roberts wrote the pilot, which was directed by James Burrows, with both Roberts and Burrows serving as executive producers alongside Chuck Lorre, Don Foster and the production companies Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions.
On May 13, 2010, CBS placed a series order on Mike and Molly. On May 15, 2011, Mike and Molly was renewed for a second season. On March 14, 2012, CBS renewed Mike & Molly for a third season, which premiered on September 24, 2012. CBS pulled the third season finale, titled "Windy City", from its show of May 20, 2013. The episode featured a tornado descending on Chicago, and would have been broadcast the same day as the 2013 Moore tornado. The episode was rescheduled for May 30, 2013.
On March 27, 2013, CBS announced that Mike & Molly would return for a fourth season during the 2013–2014 television season. On May 17, 2013, Mark Roberts stepped down from showrunner duties to focus on other projects. Al Higgins replaced him for Season 4. The series received a 22-episode order from CBS for its 4th season. The show's fourth season premiere took place on November 4, 2013 at 9:00 pm ET/8:00 pm CT, in the time slot vacated by 2 Broke Girls when it moved to 8:30 pm ET/7:30 pm CT, replacing the short-lived sitcom, We Are Men. Following the breakout feature film success of McCarthy (Identity Thief, The Heat), Lorre intends for the show to more prominently feature Molly in season 4. In promos leading up to the season 4 premiere, CBS billed the series as "the new Mike & Molly." Though the cast and setting remains essentially the same, the "new" refers to Molly quitting her teaching job and pursuing a career as a writer.
On March 13, 2014, CBS announced the fifth season renewal of Mike & Molly. CBS did not place the show in a timeslot when it unveiled its initial 2014-15 schedule. The fifth season began airing December 8, 2014. On March 12, 2015, CBS announced the sixth season renewal of Mike & Molly.
Despite several others did not ordered less than 13 episodes for a sixth season, on January 12, 2016, it was announced that the series would be cancelled instead and it was rumored to be replaced by 2 Broke Girls and the final episode aired on May 16, then after the series was cancelled during CBS Upfront presentation, it will replace both with Kevin Can Wait and Man with a Plan.
Casting[]
Casting announcements began in February 2010, with Katy Mixon and Reno Wilson being the first actors cast in the series. Mixon portrays the role of Victoria, Molly's sister, while Wilson portrays Carl, Mike's partner. Billy Gardell was the next actor cast in the series, as the titular Mike. Swoosie Kurtz then joined the series as Molly's mother, Joyce. Following Kurtz, Nyambi Nyambi boarded the series as Samuel, a regular waiter at Abe's Hot Beef, where Mike and Carl frequent. Melissa McCarthy completed the cast when she signed on to play the role of the eponymous Molly.
Reception[]
Critical reception[]
Mike & Molly has received moderately positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show holds a rating of 77% with an average rating of 6/10, based on 22 reviews. The consensus reads: "Mike & Molly is a conventional sitcom that's able to mine some big laughs, thanks to the immensely appealing central performers". It achieved a score of 62 out of 100 on the review aggregator site Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Critic Randee Dawn gave the show a negative review, stating the cast is likable all but Molly who is very unlikable, and the jokes are old and bland.
Ratings[]
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | No. of
episodes |
Premiered | Ended | TV season | Rank | Avg. viewers
(in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Premiere viewers
(in millions) |
Date | Finale viewers
(in millions) | ||||||
| 1 | Monday 9:30 PM (Episodes 1-19) Monday 9:00 PM (Episodes 20-24) |
24 | September 20, 2010 | 12.23 | May 16, 2011 | 8.64 | 2010–11 | #35 | 11.14 |
| 2 | Monday 9:30 PM | 23 | September 26, 2011 | 13.36 | May 14, 2012 | 11.79 | 2011–12 | #31 | 11.51 |
| 3 | 23 | September 24, 2012 | 9.45 | May 30, 2013 | 8.01 | 2012–13 | #37 | 10.22 | |
| 4 | Monday 9:00 PM | 22 | November 4, 2013 | 9.22 | May 19, 2014 | 7.05 | 2013–14 | #33 | 9.58 |
| 5 | Monday 8:30 PM | 22 | December 8, 2014 | 8.06 | May 18, 2015 | 7.75 | 2014–15 | #44 | 9.91 |
| 6 | Wednesday 8:30 PM (Episodes 1-6) Monday 8:00 PM (Episodes 7-13) |
13 | January 6, 2016 | 6.73 | May 16, 2016 | 8.45 | 2015–16 | #51 | 8.46 |
Controversies[]
Controversy arose in 2010 around a Marie Claire blog post written by Maura Kelly, in which she refers to the actors on the show as overweight. Show creator Mark Roberts spoke out regarding Kelly's blog post, calling the comments "very high school". He also stated, "This wasn't about the show, this wasn't about the writing, this wasn't about the acting. This was about someone's hateful response to how these two human beings look." Billy Gardell also addressed the matter when he appeared on the daily talk show The Talk on November 1, 2010. Marie Claire has stood behind the blog. Kelly has since apologized for her comments, stating that she "sorely regret[s] that it upset people so much".
In the season 3 episode "Molly's New Shoes", the Peggy character reacts to her fiance's plans to retire and move to Arizona with the line: "Arizona? Why should I go to Arizona? It's nothing but a furnace full of drunk Indians." This prompted calls by the Native American Journalists Association, among others, for an apology.
Gallery[]
Syndication[]
The off-network rights to Mike & Molly have been sold to FX, which began airing the series in 2014 and was removed in 2021. Since 2021, Mike & Molly aired on TV Land, Nickelodeon, and CMT.
DVD Release[]
In the United States, the first season of Mike and Molly was released on both DVD and Blu-ray. All subsequent seasons have only received a DVD release. On October 11, 2016, the sixth and final season was released, as well as a complete series collection. In Australia, the first four seasons have been released on DVD, and in the United Kingdom, only seasons one and two have been released.
| Title | Episodes | Release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | ||||
| The Complete Second Season | ||||
| The Complete Third Season | TBA | |||
| The Complete Fourth Season | TBA | |||
| The Complete Fifth Season | TBA | TBA | ||
| The Complete Sixth & Final Season | TBA | TBA | ||
| The Complete Series | TBA | TBA | ||
External links[]
- Mike & Molly on Wikipedia
- Mike & Molly on Television Wiki
- Mike & Molly on CBS Wiki